"House of the Dragon" release date / "Bridgerton" S2 record / "It" prequel series / Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+

Plus today's calendar, "Umbrella Academy" intros Viktor Hargreeves, NFL mobile streamer, Netflix's "The Kitchen," and more

Inside.com Part of   Network March 30, 2022

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The "Game of Thrones" spin-off series "House of the Dragon" lands on HBO and HBO Max on August 21. The network also released a teaser poster for the high fantasy series. More: This is just 12 days before the debut of another high-profile fantasy series, Amazon's "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power." HBO's series chronicles the rise of House Targaryen, and takes place around 200 years before the events of "Game of Thrones." The cast includes Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, and Matt Smith. "Colony" creator Ryan Condol and "Game of Thrones" vet Miguel Sapochnik are showrunners on the series; Sapochnik noted that the new show "has its own tone," but remains "very respectful of what the original show is." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

According to Netflix data, subscribers viewed around 193 million hours of Season 2 of "Bridgerton" in its first three days online. This sets a new record for the most-watched English-language Netflix series ever in its first weekend. More: "Bridgerton" Season 2 cracked the Netflix Top 10 list in 92 of the 93 countries tracked by the streamer; Japan was the lone holdout. This was the second most-watched first weekend for any Netflix show in history, exceeded only by Part 5 of "Money Heist," which was seen for 201.9 million hours in its first three days back in September. "Bridgerton" executive producer Shonda Rhimes had three series in the US Netflix Top 5 during the week of March 21-27, including both seasons of "Bridgerton" and the limited true-crime drama series "Inventing Anna." As well, this week, Ryan Reynolds became the only actor with three Netflix originals in the streamer's all-time (English-language) Top 10 list: "The Adam Project," "Red Notice," and "6 Underground." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30 MOON KNIGHT: Debut superhero series, tying in with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and starring Oscar Isaac as a mercenary who serves as a conduit for an Egyptian god, while also navigating a dissociative identity disorder. Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy co-star; Jeremy Slater ("Fantastic Four") serves as head writer. [Disney+] THE KNIGHTS OF CASTELCORVO (I CAVALIERI DI CASTELCORVO): Family comedy-drama series from Italy, about four kids tasked with protecting the tiny village of Castelcorvo from ancient forces of evil. Season 1 comes to Disney+ in the US today. [Disney+] NITRAM: 2021 biographical drama film from Australia, based on the true story of Martin Bryant, who murdered 35 people and injured 23 others during a 1996 mass shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania. Caleb Landry Jones stars as Nitram ("Martin" backwards), an intellectually disabled young man who becomes fixated on guns and violence following a string of personal tragedies. Justin Kurzel ("True History of the Kelly Gang") directed. [AMC+] QUEEN OF VERSAILLES REIGNS AGAIN: Debut reality series following up on the 2012 documentary "The Queen of Versailles," profiling Westgate Resorts owner David Siegel and his socialite wife, Jackie. The new series finds Jackie attempting to complete work on the same elaborate Florida mansion featured in the original film. [Discovery+] WHITE WATER SUMMER: Reality series set among the eccentric, hard-partying raft guides working the Deschutes River in Maupin, a summer tourist destination so popular, it's sometimes called "the Vegas of Oregon." [Discovery+] WHEN WE WERE BULLIES: 2021 short film from writer/director Jay Rosenblatt, in which he tracks down members of his fifth-grade class (along with their former teacher) to reflect on a 50-year-old schoolyard bullying incident. The film was nominated for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at this year's Oscars. [HBO Max] TRUST NO ONE: THE HUNT FOR THE CRYPTO KING: True-crime documentary from filmmaker Luke Sewell ("Bad Sport"), about internet sleuths investigating the mysterious death of cryptocurrency millionaire Gerry Cotten, and the disappearance of $250 million in funds to which only he had access. [Netflix] ALL HAIL (GRANIZO): Spanish-language comedy-drama feature from Argentina, about a famous TV weatherman (Guillermo Francella) who flees Buenos Aires for his hometown of Córdoba -- and goes on a journey of self-discovery -- after failing to predict a devastating hailstorm. [Netflix] WILD ABANDON (UYSALLAR): Comedy-drama series from Turkey, starring Öner Erkan as an architect going through a mid-life crisis who begins leading a double life as a punk. [Netflix] NAME THAT TUNE: Fox's musical game show revival returned for a second season on Tuesday; new episodes come to Hulu on Wednesdays. Jane Krakowski hosts, while Randy Jackson serves as bandleader. [Hulu] TOMB HUNTERS: 2021 docuseries chronicling a group of archaeologists as they uncover the secrets of a long-hidden tomb in Saqqara, Egypt. [Paramount+] AGE OF HUMANS: 2021 educational series from Smithsonian Channel, taking a holistic and international look at how humanity has altered and reshaped nature and the planet. [Paramount+] MIGHTY TRAINS: Documentary series featuring footage of train systems from around the globe, accompanied by narration from Teddy Wilson. Season 4 aired in 2021 on Smithsonian Channel in the US and comes to Paramount+ today. [Paramount+] SECRETS: The Smithsonian Channel series uses modern research techniques and technologies to probe ancient secrets and investigate long-standing questions about the history of human civilization. Season 7 aired in 2021 and hits Paramount+ today. [Paramount+]

Variety reported that HBO Max is developing a prequel series based on the Stephen King horror novel "It" and its recent film adaptations. The series, titled "Welcome to Derry," will open in the 1960s and relate an origin story for the demonic Pennywise the Clown. More: "It: Part One" was released in 2017; a sequel that completed the story from the original novel, "It: Part Two," followed in 2019. Andy Muschietti, who directed the films, is attached to produce the series, and will likely also direct the pilot. Jason Fuchs, who produced "It: Part Two," developed the series along with Muschietti and his producing partner, Barbara Muschietti, and will also write the scripts. Together, the "It" films grossed over $1.1 billion at the global box office; the novel previously inspired a memorable TV miniseries back in the 1990s. VARIETY

Friday Night Baseball games begin streaming on Apple TV+ on April 8. The revised 2022 Major League Baseball (MLB) calendar was announced earlier in March, and opens on April 7. More: The streams will be available in the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. In the US and Canada, streams of the games will be available 24/7, along with replays and highlights, on Apple TV+; for a "limited time," they'll be available without a TV+ subscription. The first two streaming TV+ games will be the New York Mets playing the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros facing the Los Angeles Angels. THE VERGE

Netflix confirmed that the character portrayed by actor Elliot Page in the series "Umbrella Academy" will come out as transgender during the show's upcoming third season. The streamer shared a screenshot of Page as Viktor Hargreeves in "Umbrella Academy" S3 on social media. More: Page publicly shared that he is transgender in December of 2020. Initially, it was reported that Page would continue to play the role of Vanya Hargreeves as a cisgender woman on "Umbrella Academy," but these plans changed during the development and production of the new episodes. AV CLUB

According to a report in The Athletic, the NFL may launch its own subscription streaming service. The tentatively titled NFL+ would be geared specifically toward mobile devices, and could include streams of games along with podcasts and supplemental content. More: NFL officials reportedly shared plans for NFL+ with team owners during offseason meetings in Florida this week. According to The Athletic, a working version could be available by May, when team owners next meet; at that point, a vote could determine whether or not to move forward with the project. Such a service could provide the league with additional leverage when renegotiating deals with mobile carriers, such as Verizon, with whom it shares a longstanding marketing and technology partnership. ENGADGET

The upcoming Netflix dystopian drama feature "The Kitchen" was co-written by actor Daniel Kaluuya. Kaluuya wrote the script alongside "Gangs of London" vet Joe Murtagh; it was selected for the Sundance Screenwriting and Directing Lab in 2016. More: The series is set in London in the year 2044, at a time of unprecedented economic inequality, in a temporary refuge for the city's former working class (known as "The Kitchen"). Kane Robinson ("Top Boy") will star as a Kitchen resident who's desperate to escape. Actor Michael Fassbender will executive produce the project; Kibwe Tavares ("Noughts + Crosses") developed the concept along with Kaluuya and will direct. VARIETY

@MCU_Direct on Twitter Viewers online noted that Disney+ has removed certain instances of graphic violence from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." The changes appeared after the platform introduced a new parental control system, allowing users to block content with R or TV-MA ratings. More: Two scenes from "Falcon and Winter Soldier" have apparently been digitally edited to remove graphic violence, including a shot featuring a bloody dead body with its eyes open. In the altered shot, the blood has been removed and the eyes are closed. Another edited scene features Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) attacking a foe with a metal pipe. "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" was rated TV-14 for language and violence. The show was originally produced for Disney+; a number of more mature Marvel series that were produced for Netflix, including "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones" have been recently added to the Disney+ catalog, but were not edited for content. POLYGON

QUICK HITS Apple TV+ ordered a series adaptation of the Blake Crouch sci-fi novel "Dark Matter," with the author serving as writer and showrunner; Joel Edgerton will star as a physicist who finds himself trapped in an alternate version of his life. Director/producer Danny Boyle's six-part limited series "Pistol" -- based on the memoir "Lonely Boy" by Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones -- hits Hulu on May 31. "You" vet Victoria Pedretti will star in the eight-part drama series "Saint X" for Hulu; based on the Alexis Schaitkin novel, the series is a psychological drama about a missing young woman that's related from various perspectives. Gina Rodriguez ("Jane the Virgin") will star in the ABC comedy pilot "Not Dead Yet" from creators Casey Johnson and David Windsor ("The Real O'Neals"); the series is based on Alexandra Potter's novel "Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up." Netflix posted new trailers for the animated adventure film "The Sea Beast" and the upcoming fifth season of the Spanish teen drama series "Élite." Amazon announced a new slate of Japanese originals headed to Prime Video, including a reboot of the classic game show "Takeshi's Castle" and a local adaptation of the anthology series "Modern Love." Pending some final tests and checks, YouTube TV's 5.1 surround sound option will soon be available on Google TV, Android TV, and Roku devices. HBO and Channel 4's "It's a Sin" earned 11 nominations for the 2022 BAFTA TV awards, the most of any series; HBO's "Landscapers" walked away with 7 noms, including David Thewlis for Lead Actor. "Legacies" vet Bianca Kajlich joined the cast of the CW "Supernatural" prequel pilot "The Winchesters"; she'll play John Winchester's (Drake Rodger) mother, Millie. Give your recruiting team an unfair advantage with Trinsly. Start your 21 day free trial.* *This is sponsored content

Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." Editor Jonathan Harris is a writer and editor who lives in Los Angeles.

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